


Or Perhaps Something Else

by Pancake_Prince



Series: Circumstances [3]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Post-Canon, Sibling Theory, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-08-03 06:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16321118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pancake_Prince/pseuds/Pancake_Prince
Summary: The finale of the Circumstances AU is finally here!With Goro finally back and the world back to normal, the two can pick up where they left off last Christmas. He was moving into Leblanc so things could now be so much easier for the both of them, with nothing to get in their way.The perfect circumstances.Or so they wish they were.With so much pain and history behind them, can either really pretend like nothing happened?





	1. I Owe You For All of This

Goro stands at the entrance of Leblanc, taking in for the first time in far too long for his liking the warmth and the scents of the small back-alley café. There was more to it than just the coffee and curry that Sojiro made that day. If he closed his eyes and focused enough, he could pick up from scent alone what made the café so special.

There were the few old books that sat in front of his regular seat, most of which remained untouched since they were first placed there. Not that you could tell unless you frequented the place as often as Goro did, with how much Sojiro made sure to keep the place spotless.

When he walks to the other side of the cafe, his cane clicking against the floorboards with each movement, he can smell the distinct scent of the intense cherry blossom soap that Sojiro stocked in the bathroom, and just a little beyond that Goro could pick up on the musty smell of the attic. It wasn’t a bad smell, to some extent it reminded Goro of an old library.

More importantly, it would now feel like home, and Goro was excited about that prospect. His apartment may have been in the centre of the city, far larger and cleaner than what the café offered, but he welcomed the change. The apartment was too full of bad and painful memories, not to mention it was completely empty and devoid of any sense of comfort and belonging.

At best, Goro’s apartment felt nothing more than a hotel room. Just a place to stay the night or relax after a long day. Nothing beyond that ever drove him to stay there for longer than a night.

Here in Leblanc there were plenty of reasons to return to his new home, one of which would be coming back from school in four hours, if he didn’t get distracted that is.

“You’re not spacing out on me, are you?” Goro hears Sojiro say, snapping him away from fantasy and bringing him back to the current situation.

“Ah, I apologise, juvenile hall is unfortunately far less friendly than this place, especially when you’re someone who worked closely with the police for the past two years and was famous for it,” Goro leans on his cane far more than he needed to. He looks to the door, only now realising just how much he must have been daydreaming since Sae had already left the building. He shakes his head, “No, I take that back. I’m trying not to wallow in self-pity anymore. However, I still couldn’t help but take in just how wonderful this place is. Despite being here so many times I can never get enough of it.”

“Hmpf,” Sojiro smirks and puts an empty coffee cup into the sink, one which Goro could only assume previously belonged to Sae, “Well you’ve been here enough to know how everything works. The kid can show you the ropes this evening since I’m sure you two have plenty to catch up on.”

Goro opens his mouth, unsure of just how much Sojiro was insinuating, and closes it without speaking. Once he’s no longer caught off guard, he coughs awkwardly into his free gloved hand, “Ah, well, I suppose you’re right. But… if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a question.”

“Hmm?”

“Why _did_ you take me in?" He shifts awkwardly on his cane, "You must know by now what I’ve done to Futaba-chan and her mother, and you were here to see just how much I hurt Akira and his friends… I’m not quite sure why you of all people would take me in.”

Sojiro shakes his head and motions with a finger for Goro to sit down in his regular seat by the bar, “How about I make you some coffee first, then we can go over why I’m not going to kick you out and let you self-destruct. Deal?”

Without a word, Goro quietly hums his approval and does as he’s told. He watches Sojiro make his favourite blend without comment.

Once the hot cup is placed in front of him, along with some sugar and a spoon to add to his liking, Sojiro leans his hands against the bar from the other side and exhales deeply, “I might not have kids of my own, but I like to think that after taking care of Futaba and Akira that I can provide some help to lost kids that were wronged by the world. Now, that’s not to say that I’m not pissed off with how much you made those I love suffer with your acts, but I also can’t ignore that most of it was out of your control, or pretend that none of it would have happened if you weren’t there. Shido would have found someone else to manipulate, it’s just a damn shame he dragged a bright kid like you into his plans.”

Goro looks down at his coffee cup, “Dragging would be a bit of an…” he looks up only to find Sojiro’s disapproving gaze, “Never mind. Continue,” he says and quickly takes a sip of his coffee to move past the awkwardness.

Sojiro folds his arms, “I hate to sound like an old fart but I was a 15 year old kid once too, and I know the kind of stupid choices I made, and trust me, there were a lot of them. That being said, after some god or whatever gave you powers that let you change your own fate at that young age, it’d be hypocritical of me to judge you for making some stupid mistakes. Because of those mistakes you were used and abused by horrible adults and experienced a world no one, especially not a kid, should experience. What I mean to say is… you’re not the only one responsible for everything that happened, or well… I can’t hold you entirely accountable. But what you did for the group afterwards… that was entirely your own decision, and I respect you for it. Which is why I don’t want you to waste your life away in jail when you’re clearly ready to be given a second chance. So, what do you say?”

Goro’s smile is bittersweet, and even years of controlling his emotions and speech patterns are barely enough to hold back his tears. He’s not sure where they’re coming from or why they’re there at all. This wasn’t a sad moment, was it? Sojiro was pitying him, and in any other circumstance that would have infuriated him. But it didn’t. Not this time, “Yes. I’ll stay. I… truth be told I was reluctant to the possibility of ever having to leave this café.”

“Good,” Sojiro nods and pulls out a rag, “you’ll have plenty of work to do, catching up on your school work and exams is one of them, not to mention all the college applications I expect you to send out and all of the entrance exams you'll have to take.”

“You… Do you think a college will actually accept a criminal like myself?” Goro hesitates, having already found peace with the idea that any sort of chances of getting into a good college and getting a degree worth his time were completely crushed last Christmas.

“They better. Or you’ll be working here with me full time,” Sojiro says with a completely serious face, making sure Goro knew he had no say in the matter, "You might have a criminal record now but that doesn't mean you didn't become an honour student while working a full-time job. And if that doesn't make them happy, I'm sure your idol status will help."

An overbearing parent with high expectations and yet one that believed in him… Goro could absolutely get used to that, even if it was far later than it should have been, "I thought you would be against me using my former status to manipulate those above me?"

Sojiro chuckles and shakes his head, "You can use your skills and status for more than just manipulation, you know? But hey, I guess old habits die hard, huh?"

He begins cleaning the bar with the rag and Goro leans back. 

“Oh, in that case is there anything you would like me to help you with?” Goro asks sincerely, ready to help him out from the get-go. A fresh start, that's what he needed and that's what Sojiro was offering. There was plenty he could learn from him, to Goro's surprise, and to start off from new, Goro wanted to seem enthusiastic to help him.

Instead, Sojiro shakes his head, “I got it covered, not like there’s many customers here anyway,” Goro turns around to look at the desolate café. Sojiro keeps on going, “Don’t get used to it, but you can take it easy for today. Figured you could use a little bit of rest after everything.”

With that, Sojiro goes to the kitchenette and begins to silently work on the dishes. Save for the running water, the occasional clinking dishes and the quiet hum of the TV running in the background, the café remains calm and quiet for the rest of the afternoon, allowing Goro some time to think in a far more pleasant environment than his jail cell.

He leans against the bar and slowly drinks his coffee, his mind soon going back to Akira. There was so much the two needed to talk about. Would they be back together again? Did they get back together somehow in all the confusion but Goro was to oblivious to pick up on it? If they weren’t, then how exactly would their living arrangement be like? He supposed he could take the sofa, he couldn’t deprive Akira of the bed. Would Akira even want to be in the same room as him? Maybe Akira was angry and wouldn’t take him back. It wouldn’t be unfair of Akira to do that after all.

Looking at it from another perspective, did Goro even deserve to be with Akira? Well, probably not anymore, but Goro quickly shakes his head. Sojiro was right. Old habits die hard. It was a lesson Goro knew he’d carry with him for the new chapter in his life.

Then a different question. Would it be healthy for Akira to take him back? Could Goro be certain that a few years down the line Akira wouldn’t regret it, wouldn’t start remembering just how much pain Goro had put him through, how much Goro lied to him in the past, how he made it seem like their relationship meant nothing to him?

He knew he shouldn’t be making decisions for him, but Akira had always been someone who thought with their heart first.

Goro downs the rest of the coffee, the liquid burning in his throat as it goes down.

There were so many things he and Akira needed to discuss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look I finally wrote a sequel for this like I said I would aaaand it's not a one-shot.
> 
> This took forever becuase I had so so many ideas for it and they kept on changing. In the mean time my life compltely fell apart as did the laptop I'm writing this on because apparently laptops hate me. But now that my life's back to normal I can finally sit down and write something with only a bit less angst than a killing game but with loads more fluff! Hopefully...
> 
> In all seriousness, I'm so happy with all the positivity that I got from this story, I honestly didn't expect this much support for it and I wanted to give back one more time by giving these two boys an ending they deserve. Eventually. Because as you should all know by now I really like messing with these two hee hee.
> 
> Oh the bad news is that unfortunately I won't be updating this as often as I did the other two but I'll try my best to update at least once a week.


	2. Charade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few years later and they still need to talk.

_**September 2019** _

_**A couple of years down the road** _

As soon as they’re both on the other side of the door, Goro smashes his lips against Akira’s, causing the latter to slam his back against the door. It closes loudly, but neither of them cares or pays attention to Ryuji shouting at them from the shared kitchen of the student accommodation to keep it down.

Akira can hear something hitting the floor loudly as if being thrown roughly on the ground- Goro’s cane he assumes- but he quickly stops thinking about it when he’s got far more interesting things to pay attention to.

Goro runs his left hand through Akira’s hair while moving his right hand down to the hem of his shirt. He leans away slightly, only to then start attacking Akira’s neck with his lips. As he runs his hand against Akira’s stomach under his shirt, the other gasps, the feelings far more overwhelming than what he expected from today’s rendezvous, “Ha… ha… you’re really not holding back t-t-t-tonight, a-are you?” Akira shivers when the detective sucks down on his neck particularly hard.

“Hmm,” Goro hums and kisses up Akira’s neck and jaw, “After a week of you sending me those scandalous pictures and texts when you knew I was working…. Quite frankly I’m insulted that you didn’t expect any of this.”

Akira parts his lips to answer, but Goro just uses that opportunity to shove his tongue down Akira’s throat once more.

After all, there were far more interesting ways they could use their mouths.

* * *

Akira makes his way back up to Goro, wiping his chin with the back of his hand. The other exhales deeply and gives out a breathy chuckle, confusing Akira ever so slightly, “Not exactly confidence boosting, not gonna lie,” he jokes and plops down next to him.

Goro shakes his head, “no, I… I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist but… this is getting a little silly, wouldn’t you agree?”

Akira raises an eyebrow, playing ignorant to what was staring them right in the face, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” He lies. Akira knew exactly what was waiting for him behind that door. It was always the same thing, every time.

Propping himself up by the elbows, Goro moves up on the bed and leans his head against Akira’s headboard, “Don’t play the fool, Akira, you know exactly what I’m referring to. This. What we’re doing. Sending each other playful messages which always lead to the same thing, then realising that we broke up for a reason and avoiding each other for a week only to repeat the cycle? It’s not healthy.”

Akira sighs, tuning on his side and propping himself up with his left elbow to face him, “If I recall correctly, you were the one who invited himself over, barely even muttered a hello to Ryuji, Mishima and Yusuke before asking me if we could ‘talk’. So, don’t act like you’re the innocent one in all of this.”

Goro scoffs, looking away from the other man, “it’s pretty bold of you to assume that there’s any innocent party in what we’ve been doing since we started studying together,” he slides out from the bed, wincing from the pain that shoots up his leg when he puts his leg down and begins picking up his belongings from the floor, put on one article of clothing each time he picks it up, “Akira, I’m not trying to pin the blame on anyone here. I’m merely trying to point out that we either need to define exactly what this is or…”

“Or…?” Akira never liked it when Goro trailed off like that. It always meant the same thing. It was always Goro trying to get Akira to say what neither of them wanted to admit to, and after knowing Goro for so long, he wasn’t going to fall for it any longer, “Or what, Goro?” he keeps egging him on, moving across the bed on all fours, “I thought I made it clear that unless I hear you say it, I’m not going to stop chasing after you. I can't when I know that there's still a part of you that doesn't want to let me go.”

Goro grunts, retrieving his jacket and cane last and moves towards the door quickly enough that Akira can feel the wind blow past him with his movement, “You know exactly what I’m trying to say.”

“Then say it,” Akira continues, getting up and holding the blanket around him.

Goro puts his hand on the handle, “We broke up for a reason,” he says, dodging the question once again.

“Yeah! We did!” Akira throws his hands up into the air and the blanket pools at his feet, leaving him completely naked. He’s too upset with his companion to feel any sense of shame or embarrassment, “So let’s talk about that, let’s talk about why that happened! That’s what you wanted, right?”

Goro turns around and starts rubbing the bridge of his nose with his middle finger and thumb, “No- well, yes, I suppose I do,” he replies, clearly already exasperated by their latest argument. Another part of their routine that Goro didn’t like talking about, “But I didn’t want it to start like this. I didn’t want you to get upset.”

“Then say it,” Akira says in a lowered tone, “Say what we have to do, what we should have done a long time ago.”

Goro doesn’t move his hand away and instead closes his eyes, “…letting you go was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, and you of all people know I don’t say that lightly. I… can’t do it again.”

Silence falls over the room, and it quickly becomes clear that they were both expecting the other to break the silence with what they wanted to hear.

It was over. It had to be. No number of pleasantries or apologies or affection could make up for the messy history that they had. It could never work. It shouldn’t work. And yet…

Akira looks up to hear the sound of the door closing.

He runs over to the door and leaves his room just in time to see Goro head for the exit.

“Dude!” He hears Ryuji shouting behind him from the kitchen followed by the sound of some cutlery falling to the ground and Yusuke’s distinct perplexed humming noise that he made whenever he was unaware of what was causing all of the commotion around him.

Akira ignores all of it, “you’re the one who’s looking for a definition, so define this!”

“It’s complicated,” Goro answers immediately, putting his hand on the doorknob. 

“That’s not an answer.”

“Well that’s all you’re getting out of me right now. I’m late for work,” he opens the door and starts to leave.

Akira folds his arms, fully aware of how much of a scene they were causing in front of their housemates. It was painful to admit, but it was hardly the first time, “Wow, seriously? That's your escape plan? And if not, then what does that make me?  _Stress relief_? A quick fuck before work? You knew exactly what was gonna happen when you got back.”

“That’s not what I-,” Goro begins but Akira storms over and gently pushes him out the door.

Akira shakes his head, holding the door, “You’re late to work, aren’t you? Go then, wouldn’t want to explain how you got into yet another stupid fight with your boy toy at work, would you?”

He closes the door on him quiet quickly, but it’s still not fast enough to avoid seeing how much the last comment really stung Goro. If Akira was being honest, he wasn’t quite sure where that comment came from. He always knew he was capable of hitting Goro where it hurt, and Akira knew that he could do it right back but at least Goro held back, never administrating the final blow.

And in all of the mess he had created, Akira still somehow didn’t want things to end. Too much history. That was the problem, or one of many they had at least. No matter how hard he tried, Akira couldn’t accept that Goro didn’t want to be with him, at least not for the reasons he provided.

All Akira needed to hear was that Goro no longer felt the same way as he used, and it would all be over. None of the arguing, none of the casual conversations where they pretended that everything was fine, none of the casual sex where they indulged in forgetting exactly why they shouldn’t be doing what they were doing.

On the other hand, if Goro could finally understand that all of this was more painful than being in a relationship with him ever was then wouldn’t all of that be over as well? Goro didn’t want to cut himself off from Akira for a reason, right? He said as much.

But he couldn’t let Akira love him completely either.

Akira jumps at the cold touch of his best friends’ hand on his shoulder, but nevertheless he turns around to face him, “Am I really so stupid to think that this could ever work out?” He asks Ryuji.

The blonde shakes his head, “Probably not… but bro? You can’t keep holdin’ on to the thought that you’ll be happy one day. It’s killin’ the both of ya. And I hate to say it but if Goro ain’t gonna do somethin’ or end this… you might hafta do it yourself.”

Akira briefly looks down at the ground, wishing that his best friend had told him to keep holding out hope instead of the cold, hard truth. For support he looks up to one of his other roommates, who just shakes his head.

“Sorry, Kurusu,” Mishima crouches down to pick up the fork that Akira had long forgotten he heard fall to the ground, “I’m with Sakamoto on this one.”

“Yusuke?”

Yusuke doesn’t respond to his name immediately, dipping his paintbrush into a deep crimson paint before gently letting the brush caress the surface of his canvas, “None of us can make the decision for you, and it will not get any easier with time…” he turns around once he’s satisfied with the number of strokes he’s applied, “Although… perhaps shutting him out from your life completely, even for a week or a month may be enough for the two of you to know exactly what your heart wants.”

The three of them all give each over surprised glance, not expecting Yusuke to drop something that profound that wasn’t about art, least of all while he was painting, “Uh… who are you and what did ya do to Yusuke?” Ryuji asks.

Mishima’s the first to come to any sort of sensible conclusion, “Ann’s been watching loads of soap operas here recently while he’s been painting,” he offers, "He's probably just been... absorbing it in the background or something."

“You’re offering me advice from soap operas?” Akira raises an eyebrow at the artist, at first almost insulted that his disaster of a love life was no better than trashy TV-.

Wait.

That was it.

His life _was_ nothing but a soap opera.

Akira briskly moves out of Ryuji’s grip on his shoulder and walks into his room, leaving the door open.

“You finally gonna put on some pants?!” he hears Ryuji calling after him, but he’s already formulating a plan, his mind all over the place. He was sure of one thing though. He needed to call Ann and he needed to do it fast.

Throwing around his blanket and his clothes, Akira eventually discovers that he left his phone in his jumper and not in his jeans pocket like he normally did. He’s a little frustrated at that but he shakes the feeling away and presses the very first name on his contact list, listening to his phone as it tries to connect with her.

“Akira? You never call, is something wrong?” Ann asks from the get-go, worry evident in her voice.

Instinctively, Akira shakes his head, but he answers quickly, “No. Well, actually yeah my life’s a nightmare right now but I know how to solve it! Get here as quickly as you can and bring popcorn!”

“O-okay!” Ann answers joyfully, “Movie night at your place?”

“You could say that…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say fluff? I must have mentioned fluff somewhere but I don't know...
> 
> I'm a terrible person, I know, but hopefully you can forgive me when I say that this is the most angsty chapter I have planned and the chapters to follow are mostly fluff and silliness.
> 
> Anyway I'm super happy that you're all enjoying this once more, I'm still so overwhelmed by all of the positivity! Thank you all so much for reading, I'll see y'all in the next chapter!


	3. Long Time No See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waifu wars and memes can go a long way on the path to forgiveness.

_**February 2017** _

Goro hears the distinct chimes of the bells above Leblanc’s door for the third time that day, beginning to think that Akira wouldn’t be coming back until the evening. That wouldn’t have been too much of a surprise, given how social his… boyfriend? Ex-Boyfriend? Acquaintance with a long and complicated history and unexplained relationship was?

Well he was certainly disappointed, but he couldn’t blame Akira for the next person to enter the café to not be him. Since when did Leblanc have this many customers anyway? He barely listens in as the man orders Sojiro’s house blend and sits down in one of the booths, but his eyes remain on the book he had taken from Sojiro’s collection. Of course, with how stressful the entire situation felt to him, he hadn’t been able to read a single line of the book he picked up. He barely even knew what the book was. He turns it over in his hand to check the front cover.

Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes.

He snorts at the irony of picking up that book by accident.

As his stomach grumbles, Goro considers asking Sojiro for the curry he had been keeping warm in the kitchenette the entire time, but that’s when the bells of Leblanc’s chime once more.

He almost doesn’t glance up, giving up hope of seeing him before it got dark entirely, but that’s when Akira’s frizzy hair pops through the door first due to his hunched posture, causing him to barely notice the ex-detective.

“Welcome home,” Goro says in his most pleasant tone, knowing fully well that it would get Akira’s attention.

Akira looks up and eyes the detective, clearly shocked by his appearance and temporarily speechless. Goro allows him to take it all in, since Akira had no idea he had any chance of getting out of juvenile hall any time soon.

Akira opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it once more, finally with a clear answer, “You’re back awfully late,” he throws back at him, and Goro chuckles, setting down the book.

“I see nothing has changed in my absence then…” He looks over the ever-baffled Akira. He reaches for his cane and uses it to get out of the chair with more comfort, “I suppose it would be for the best if we continued this conversation upstairs, would you not agree?”

Despite his previous words, Akira becomes silent again and just nods his reply.

As soon as the two are upstairs, Akira grabs his sleeve and pulls him around. Goro isn’t sure what to expect with such a sudden movement, but it wasn’t the embrace that Akira pulls him into. He feels the tightness of his chest slowly getting to him, making it harder to breathe during the crushing hug. Even then, he says nothing and puts his arms around Akira, all of his worries vanishing in an instant.

“I- Akira… I’m so-,”

“No, stop,” Akira shuts him up, “there’s absolutely nothing you need to apologise for. Not anymore,” Akira reluctantly pulls away to look Goro in the eyes, “Yaldabaoth no longer has any control over you and Shido is never coming back into your life. We can move on, together, just pretend like none of that ever happened… if you’ll let us.”

Goro doesn’t reply with words but merely a nod.

Akira lifts his hand up slowly and moves Goro’s bangs out of his face, then moves it down to cup his cheek and strokes it with his thumb, “I’d like to know what happened and how you’re here, but right now can we just… relax? Take things easy? You’ve got nowhere to be, right?”

Goro smiles and shakes his head, “No… well I suppose I should first let you know that I will actually be staying here for much longer than I ever have before, so we have all the time in the world.”

Akira grins, “Well I kinda have to go to school tomorrow…” He trials off as a joke, and Goro swats his hand away. He breaks away from the embrace entirely.

“You know what I mean, Akira,” Goro moves across the room, his cane tapping lightly against the wooden flooring and sits down on Akira’s bed, resting his back against Akira’s windowsill. He pats lightly at the seat next to him to get Akira to sit next to him, “Would you care to join me?”

Akira’s about to indulge him but instead Goro’s grumbling stomach interrupts, making Akira giggle, “How about I go get us some food and then I’ll join you? Is Sojiro’s curry okay?”

Goro smiles gently and gives him a small nod, “Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you. Would you like me to go downstairs with you?”

Akira shakes his head, but points to the table, “If it’s not asking too much, could you move the table and TV closer to the bed? Futaba kinda got me into Featherman and there’s a new episode so…”

Goro chuckles and shakes his head, finding Akira’s usual nonchalance refreshing from the shit show of his last few months, “You do realise I wasn’t able to watch this newest season from behind bars, right?”

Akira’s mouth forms an o and his eyebrows go up. He stutters out a reply, “Y-y-you watch Phoenix Featherman?!”

Goro raises an eyebrow, “Why is that so surprising?”

“I just didn’t take you for… uh…”

“A nerd?” Goro gets straight to the point. He folds his arms, “To think that you were once my rival… I don’t try to hide it. With my powers I was able to manipulate the public into believing anything I wanted them to believe and I chose to become a detective because I thought I would be good at it and the prospect of solving crimes was enticing to me. Despite all of my extracurriculars both as said detective and Shido’s puppet, I was an honour student in my class. Since you showed me, I have quite enjoyed playing video games and I read philosophy for fun,” He concludes, “I would hope that you don’t think that all of the activities that I post online are the things I truly enjoy doing, right?”

Akira snorts, “So, if posting pictures of food on your blog is just part of the act, that means you’re gonna delete that blog now, right?”

Goro looks away from Akira immediately, his cheeks turning red, “O-of course. I don’t need it anymore… I just haven’t had the chance to-.”

Akira walks over to him while the boy keeps bumbling out excuses, leans over him and shuts him up with a gentle kiss to his lips. He’s smiling when he pulls away, “Goro… it’s fine. You don’t need to put a mask on anymore and hide who you are. I’m not gonna judge you for any of your guilty pleasures. Obviously, I’m going to tease you about it mercilessly whenever I get the chance but I hope you know I don’t mean any of it.”

“R-right,” Goro mumbles, cheeks still flaring red. The tint slowly starts to vanish as he goes back to the conversation that had started all of this, “Uh, in that case I’ll move everything, and you’ll get the food, yes?”

Akira stands up straight again and reaches for the laptop on his desk, “I’ve managed to get Futaba to update this thing, it doesn’t have Shady Commodities anymore but I figured with the Metaverse gone I wouldn’t really need it… it’s got everything a normal laptop should have though so feel free to look up the episodes of Featherman that you missed out on. Oh, the passwords-,”

Goro is already typing at it and Akira hears him unlocking it, “I know it’s Morgana. I haven’t seen him around, so I can only assume…”

Akira sighs and shakes his head, “No, he’s not back yet, no. But… if you’re here, then it doesn’t mean that Morgana can’t find his way back either.”

When the conversation ends, Akira hops down the stairs and into the kitchenette to retrieve one big plate of curry to share with his boyfriend.

Meanwhile upstairs while working on the computer, Goro sees a message pop up by the side, the only name on it read ‘Goggles’,

> Goggles: **Wow and here I thought you had some sense of privacy.**

Was… were they talking to him? Who was this anyway?

> Shakira: **I apologise but Akira isn’t here right now, perhaps I can pass a message along?**

The person on the other side replies almost instantaneously,

> Goggles: **OMG weren’t you some sort of Ace detective or something?**
> 
> Shakira: **Futaba-chan?**
> 
> Goggles: **Duh!**
> 
> Shakira: **You… you can see through Akira’s laptop camera, can’t you?**
> 
> Goggles: **Well it’s the only way I’d know you’re being pervy and looking at all of his private data!**

Back in the real world, Goro shuffles off the bed, ignoring the pain in his leg in favour of finding any item that would block the camera and make this situation far less creepy. He quickly finds some tape and a piece of paper and places it over the camera.

> Goggles: **Boo you suck**
> 
> Shakira: **You’re right, I do value privacy.**
> 
> Shakira: **And you clearly don’t** **ヽ** **(** **｀** **⌒** **´** **)** **ﾉ**
> 
> Goggles: **Oh my god did you just emoji?**
> 
> Shakira: **…is that such a bad thing?**
> 
> Goggles: **You never did that on the group chat!**
> 
> Goggles: **Or… any of your other messages I may have read over last November**

Goro rolls his eyes in the real world.

> Shakira: **Anyway, Akira let me use his laptop so that I could find some links to watch a show.**
> 
> Shakira: **And he’s not here because he’s getting us food.**
> 
> Goggles: **Ooooh what show?**
> 
> Goggles: **Oh actually nvm, knowing you its probably something super boring**
> 
> Shakira: **It’s the new Phoenix Featherman season if you must know.**
> 
> **_Goggles is typing…_ **

_Oh no what did I start_

> Goggles: **bfksjhdbfljahsdbflhajgbdfl YOU WATCH PHOENIX FEATHERMAN?!**
> 
> Goggles: **Wait no you’re just doing this for Akira, aren’t you?**
> 
> Shakira: **Um no I’m doing this to see best girl Pink in action, obviously.**
> 
> Goggles: **ahjslbdfjhadfh OKAY FIRST YOU COME INTO MY HOUSE**
> 
> Goggles: **YOU DRINK MY DADS COFFEE AND SLEEP IN MY BROS BED**
> 
> Goggles: **AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO DENY THAT GREEN IS BEST GRIL?**
> 
> Goggles: **Honestly I don’t think you could betray my trust anymore than you have rn.**
> 
> Shakira: **…I don’t actually know if you’re joking right now.**
> 
> Goggles: **RIGHT NOW I’M LOOKING OUT FOR JOKER**
> 
> Goggles: **I CAN’T HAVE HIM GOING OUT WITH SOMEONE WHO THINKS PINK IS BEST GIRL???**

It’s at that moment that Akira plops down on the bed next to him and looks over Goro’s shoulder, holding a plate of curry in his hand, “You were so caught up with Futaba that you didn’t notice me come in?”

Goro barely has any time to look in his direction as he starts typing up a reply, “She’s delusional if she thinks Green is superior to Pink. Green has her merits of course and she is a great asset to the team but without Pink the team would be truly lost.”

Akira chuckles and scoops some curry up on his fork, “So now you’re in a heated debate over this with Futaba? You could just walk across the street, you know?” He lifts up the fork to Goro’s lips, who opens his mouth and expects Akira to do all of the work for him while he furiously types away his response on the keyboard.

Ever the good-mannered individual, Goro chews and swallows his food before answering, “no, no, this is an online argument and I will not be defeated by someone who’s so clearly wrong…. Wait she stopped typing. Why did she stop typing….? Did... could I have won?”

“Like hell you won!” the two of them hear shouting come from outside Akira’s window. They both turn, Goro setting down Akira’s laptop back on the desk and the two look outside where they find Futaba holding up Green’s figuring and shaking it at the boys, “I can’t believe you let that traitor into our house, Akira!”

Akira shrugs, “Honestly…? I think White is best girl…” he trails off and both Goro and Futaba give him filthy looks.

Futaba pulls out her phone and quickly finds the image she was looking for and sends it to her and Akira’s group chat.

Akira retrieves his laptop, and bursts out laughing when he sees the meme, “Futaba I swear I’m not a fake bitch!” He shouts out through the window, “Hey here’s a thought, how about the three of us watch Featherman together, would that make you feel better?”

Both Futaba and Goro grumble, but eventually Akira sees her walking in the direction of the cafes entrance while Goro sits back down. Once he calms down, he chuckles, thinking over the situation, “This… this is ridiculous, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but you’ll get used to it,” Akira grins and picks up his plate again to continue feeding Goro, “Futaba didn’t… get to you or anything, did she? You don’t mind that she’s coming over?”

Goro shakes his head and gulps as he swallows the curry. It was definitely reassuring that Futaba seemed to rather quickly start taunting him online. It was far nicer than the alternative of having her blank him entirely, “Oh no, she is most welcome here. That debating was actually very fun, I look forward to discussing more with her. By the way…” his tone of voice changes considerably, from light to heavy and serious. It made Akira shiver a little, caught off guard with how easily Goro could alter his voice depending on the situation, “You didn’t mean what you said about White, did you?”

Akira laughs, “No, no, don’t worry, I just wanted to piss off both of you. I don’t really have a favourite… but I guess if I had to pick a favourite then it would have to be Blue.”

“Hm,” Goro hums, the noise almost impossible to hear with how loudly Futaba was running up the stairs.

“Okay so which one of you do I have to school first?”


	4. Thesis and Antithesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira comes up with a terrible plan. He already expects it to blow up in his face.

_**September 2019** _

“You know-,” Ann starts to say with a mouth full off popcorn. Since the start of their marathon, Akira and Ann had sprawled over the couch, their legs intertwined and their heads resting on opposite arm rests. They were both covered by a blanket that Ryuji had kindly brought over, sharing a big bag of popcorn while the former athlete sits in the armchair facing the tv, paying more attention to his phone rather than the soap operas playing in the background, “-as much as I’m loving this I still wanna know what happened.”

“Ugh, stop being gross Ann,” Ryuji comments, looking up from his phone.

She throws some popcorn at him, which just lands on his lap and he picks it up, “You were literally talking non-stop last week with your mouth full at the ramen place we all went to. At least I have the decency not to be gross in public!”

“So it’s totally fine to be gross in front of us?!” Ryuji shouts and Ann only replies with a smile, one still full of popcorn.

She turns away from Ryuji and nudges Akira with her foot, “You gonna tell me then or not?”

Akira’s gaze doesn’t turn away from the tv screen, and so Ryuji feels the incentive to explain himself, “He fucked Akechi.”

“Oh… what’s so unusual about that?” Ann asks, because as far as she was concerned, it had become the norm. Goro and Akira being on-again, off-again lovers wasn’t something either kept hidden and even the most oblivious member of their group knew exactly what was happening. Yusuke couldn’t be that blind to it after all.

“They got into a real bad argument after it. Akira kicked Akechi out this time,” As Ryuji continues the explanation, Akira pretends like he couldn’t hear any of it, like he was in a space of his own.

Unfortunately for him he expected to be pulled back into the conversation sooner or later by Ann, “You can give me the deets later but right now I gotta know why the first thing you thought of was watching this with me?”

Akira nods his head backwards, using it to motion towards the artists room, “Yusuke mentioned something from this as advice. So, I took him up on it.”

“That ain’t what happened!” Ryuji roll his eyes, “The resident drama queen completely misunderstood it and thought he could learn something from this show. Inari just said something he heard from something you were watching with him.”

Ann grins slyly, looking over to Ryuji, “Then I know why he’s here, but don’t tell me you’re enjoying this as well, Ryuji?”

“Hell no!” The blond boy objects and goes back to his phone, “I’m just here to make sure that he doesn’t do anything stupid,” he nods in Akira’s direction.

Ann snorts, accidentally dropping some of the popcorn in her hand onto the blanket, “And you thought you’d be qualified to call him out on that?”

“Hey!” Ryuji gently kicks at the armrest just below her head, “Better than you!”

Akira reaches for the remote in front of him and turns up the TV, hoping to drown out the bickering coming from the two. It wasn’t that he was particularly invested in the show, but he asked to watch something in the first place so he could enjoy someone else’s company while coming up with his own plan. He wasn't asking for anyone's input, not this time.

In any other situation he would gladly ask for his friends’ advice since he knew the former thieves wouldn’t judge him beyond some light banter, but it was different when it came to Goro. Everything was way too complicated to explain properly.

While Ann and Ryuji continue arguing about who’s less of a dumbass, Akira tunes them out by watching the show. He wasn’t wrong in thinking that his life was like a soap opera, as the show itself had a couple in the background who would be all over each other one episode and arguing like crazy in the next. This time apparently the girl had cheated on the guy with his twin brother and claimed not to have known it wasn't her lover. Akira couldn’t recall whether she was telling the truth or not, but he didn’t think it was too relevant to him anyway.

The next episode is what gets his attention. The guy, feeling like he’s lost the girl because of their argument, decides to make her jealous by pretending to see one of her friends. Akira starts to think that at least this relationship seems more toxic than his current one… but maybe there was some way this could work for him, right?

After all, one of Goro’s key flaws was a constant need for attention, and if Akira deprived him of that then Goro was bound to try and grasp it from him, right? It was a terrible plan, one that Goro might see right through but the end game wasn’t to get Goro back, it was just to have that conversation the two kept avoiding. So, if it wasn’t to get into his pants (or not intentionally anyway), then it wasn’t as manipulative as what the man on TV was doing, right?

Akira looks over to his phone lying on the other side of the room and points to it, “Pass me my phone, Ryuji.”

The two blonds stop bickering and Ryuji quickly shakes his head, “Just so you can call Akechi again? I ain’t letting you do that, bro.”

Akira pulls the blanket off of him, untangles himself from Ann’s legs and gets to the phone himself, “You seriously think that if I wanted to do that, I’d be dumb enough to do it in front of all of you? I’m just texting an old friend.”

“Ooh!” Ann jumps off the couch and bounces over, glancing over his shoulder, “Hifumi Togo? The shogi player?”

“Why her?” Ryuji raises an eyebrow, “I’ve seen her on campus, but I haven’t seen ya talk to her in ages.”

Akira shakes his head as he types out a quick text, “Because we’ve only met up once or twice since I left Tokyo. Goro was hella jealous that I preferred playing shogi with her than chess with him. Not that it stopped me just... didn't really have a chance to meet up anymore with our busy schedules.”

Ann snatches his phone before he can press send and throws it to Ryuji, who proceeds to sit on it knowing it's the only way to stop Akira from getting it back from him, “That’s the worst thing you can do right now! He’s just gonna think you finally moved on and leave entirely!”

Akira shakes his head, “Goro doesn’t want to leave me and he knows I don't want to leave him, he just… well I guess it’s confusing, but I know he doesn’t think any different because if he did then he would’ve just broken up with me. Besides, I just want to talk to him.”

“By hanging out with Togo?” Ann raises an eyebrow, not following any of Akira’s logic.

“By hanging out with _only_ Togo at the party you’re throwing next week. If there’s one thing Goro loves, it’s attention. And that’s what I’ve been giving him this whole time, right? So, maybe if I show him that I’m distancing myself he’ll just… wanna talk.”

“And this isn’t about sleeping with him again?” Ryuji asks, hesitantly reaching for Akira’s phone, “It ain’t gonna work.”

“Well, have either of you got any better ideas?” Akira takes off his glasses and cleans them on his shirt, waiting for answer. He puts them back on and extends his hand out to Ryuji, waiting for his phone, “What’s it going to be, Ann? You gonna help?”

Ann looks between Ryuji and Akira, eventually going back to the couch with a sigh, “It’s your funeral Akira. But I guess whichever way it goes at least it’s a step forward in one direction,” she pulls out her phone, “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always totally support you but… I guess I’m not convinced about this plan,” she begins sending invites out for the last-minute party Akira had asked her to plan.

Meanwhile, Ryuji hands Akira his phone back and he sends the previous message; an invitation to Ann’s party.

After a few minutes of silence between the three, Mishima pokes his head out through his door, having received the invitation from Ann via text, “What’s the occasion?”

“Akira’s thinking with his dick again and we’re all getting pulled into his mess,” Ryuji gives a quick explanation, which Akira ignores entirely.

“Uh…” Mishima glances awkwardly at Akira, “Wh-what... just what kinda party is this?”

“Oh my god, Mishima!” Ann shouts, immediately picking up on his insinuation and throws a pillow at him. He blocks it by hiding behind his door, “Get your mind out of the gutter! It’s just a student party! Not an orgy!”

“Well depends on just how much booze you’ll bring,” Ryuji mutters and has a pillow thrown in his face, “It was a joke, woman!”

Ann rolls her eyes, “just bring your own booze and whatever friends you can think of besides the idiots you share a house with.”

“Rude,” Ryuji throws the pillow back at her and goes back to his phone.

But by now Akira’s stopped paying attention, intrigued by the reply he’d received from Hifumi;

**It’s good to hear from you again, Akira, but I’d like to discuss some things with you before I attend this party. Could we meet up tomorrow for lunch?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, anyone who knows me knows that technology this year has been out to get me... this time, my laptop decided to delete half of my WIP's, including the entirety of this fic, and since then I haven't had the time to rewrite... until now!


	5. Your Heart Is Always Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's nice to just sit back and take an evening off occasionally.

_**February 2017** _

It’s impossible for Akira to concentrate at school when he knows what’s, or rather who’s, waiting for him back at home. He’s caught looking out of the window and just about manages to dodge the chalk his teacher throws at him, which is apparently enough for Ann to notice just how unaware of his surroundings her friends has been the whole day.

During their lunch hour, she turns in her chair and flicks him on the nose when he doesn’t move a single bit.

“Huh?” Akira scrunches up his nose and is snapped out of whatever daydream he’d been having, “Is school over?”

“We haven’t even had lunch yet!” Ann berates him and begins to pull her own lunch out of her bag, “I mean, I guess I get it. You haven’t seen him in a pretty long time. Have you guys talked yet?”

“Talked…?” Akira trails off, reaching into his own bag to get the lunch he bought on the way to school.

Ann rolls her eyes, stands up and pulls Akira up with her, “Come on, let’s go meet with the others.”

She pulls him out of the class by the wrist and continues talking to him as the walk through the school, towards the courtyard, “What I mean is, you guys went through loads of things and barely had an opportunity to talk about all of it. I guess it’s easy for me to forgive him since I wasn’t so involved but there’s way too much history between you two for you to ignore it all.”

Akira stops and takes his wrist back from her, “I know you’re looking out for me Ann but… I know what I’m doing. Goro made a lot of mistakes in the past but barely any of that was his fault.”

“Wasn’t it?” Ann turns around, “Was shooting you in the investigation room something he was forced to do? Or work for Shido in the first place?”

“We don’t know that he shot me,” Akira says quietly.

“You’re just proving my point even more!” Ann points out and it unfortunately brings attention to their conversation. She ignores all of the stares they were getting now, “I’m just trying to look out for you, both of you, actually. Everything might seem great now, but when this new honeymoon phase passes, there’s gonna be a lot of uncomfortable questions you’ll both have. Best to get it out of the way now when things aren’t complicated.”

As much as he loved his friend, Akira was struggling not to tell her to mind her own business. Sure, his and Goro’s relationship was far more complicated than most others but they’ve worked through their problems, right?

“What do you mean, ‘complicated’?”

Ann sighs and turns back around to continue walking to the courtyard where their friends were waiting, Akira following close behind, “You’re moving back soon, right?” Instead of her angry tone, her voice becomes far more sombre, “I… well it’s gonna be hard on all of us but it’s probably easier to remain friends long distance than staying in a shaky relationship long distance, right?”

Akira doesn’t reply to that, having kept that thought all the way at the back of his head.

He had nothing to return to there, so why would he waste his time thinking about it when he can make the most of his time here?

_I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it._

* * *

“I’m home~ oh,” Akira announces in a sing song when he reaches the attic and to his surprise, there’s been a few changes in his room.

The lights are off but instead his room is light up with candles and fairy lights spread out across his room. There’s a blanket spread out on the floor with different kinds of food on plates and two cups of coffee next to them.

Goro show up running up to the attic behind him, “Oh, you’re here earlier than I thought… I hope I didn’t overstep or anything.”

Akira drops his bag on the table when he turns around to face Goro. He takes Goro’s face into his hands and pulls him into a slow but sweet kiss, “It’s perfect,” he says once he eventually pulls away. He takes Goro’s hand and the two settle down on the floor.

“I… Futaba helped me with the food,” Goro admits, “I would’ve liked to go on a real date but-.”

Akira puts a finger to Goro’s lips, smiling, “You’re worrying too much, Goro. Seriously, I love it. I meant it when I said it’s perfect.”

Akira picks up his cup of coffee while Goro sets out the remaining parts of their indoor picnic, “How was school?”

Akira flashes back to the argument he had with Ann earlier that day, that really being the most memorable and noteworthy event at school, “It was fine,” Akira lies, but somehow Goro doesn’t pick up on it. Or maybe he does but he doesn’t say anything. Akira elaborates further, “Well nothing really happened. School’s kinda boring now that everyone’s forgotten about the Phantom Thieves.”

“Everyone’s forgotten about the Phantom Thieves?” Goro repeats as a question, which catches Akira off guard. It was something he’d of course gotten used to by now but it’s hardly surprising that Goro, who even now has little contact with the outside world, has no idea about the real world aftermath of defeating the malevolent god.

“Uh… yeah… actually after you went to juvie everyone sorta stopped talking about the Phantom Thieves. Even Shido’s trial barely made the news… there’s actually no mention of you in any kind of media either,” Akira says awkwardly, watching as Goro processes all of the information.

He ends up taking it quite well, “I can’t say I’m disappointed. After all my fame was merely intended as a means to take Shido down and with that achieved… well it certainly makes moving on easier. It’s a shame about the Phantom Thieves.”

“It’s probably for the best,” Akira admits, “At least now we’re only followed by the government who kinda remember us, not the rest of the world. You… sure you’re okay with it? It was kinda your whole life before.”

Goro nods slowly, “Yes. Adapting to new circumstances is one of my many talents after all,” it’s said in a joking tone, but Akira still hears some disappointment in his voice. Goro realises it too, “obviously I’m not going to be completely content with this but I can hardly complain about it.”

Before either of them begin feeling even worse about the situation, Akira quickly decides to switch topics, “How was the rest of your day?”

* * *

Despite the slow and somewhat awkward start, their picnic date ends up being something the two of them were in desperate need of. No need to rush things, no feeling of needing to fill in occasional silences with meaningless conversation, just a pleasant evening off eating, cuddling and make out sessions. At some point the two end up lying on the bed while X-Folders plays in the background. Neither really pay attention to it, instead deciding to spend their time simply talking.

“It wasn’t all bad,” Akira continues explaining his situation back home, “I mean, the classes were actually quite fun. I had a few friends too, but I haven’t heard from them since the trial. Now that it’s all over I don’t think I’m dreading going back as much as I did before,” He admits, snuggling up to Goro in the bed.

“Oh, since we’re on that topic…” Goro begins but Akira feels him shake his head, “No, actually never mind. Let’s just enjoy what we have now.”

_So he’s avoiding the conversation too, huh?_

“You… do you mind if I ask you about some stuff from before?” Akira hesitates to ask, knowing that it’s a difficult topic for Goro, who tenses up at the mention.

He clears his throat before answering, “I suppose it depends what about… I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to talk about it all if I’m being honest.”

Akira sits up on the bed while Goro shifts to put his head in his lap. While Akira gently runs his hand through his hair, Goro closes his eyes, “How about we start off with some easier things. You’re not from Tokyo, right?”

Goro shakes his head, “I wasn’t born here, no, but my hometown isn’t so far from here. I haven’t actually visited it since then… but there’s really not much for me to go back to.”

“Were you always such a nerd?” Akira teases and Goro chuckles.

“Oh, that never changed,” Goro smiles, “I genuinely believed I could team up with the Feathermen someday. Obviously, this was when I was a child, but it was definitely a career path I considered.”

“The first career path I remember choosing is a detective I think,” Akira recalls, which results in Goro opening his eyes.

“You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”

The two of them spend the remainder of the evening chatting and feeling nostalgic, the series having long ended in the background.

As night falls, Ann’s words keep reappearing in Akira’s head.

_“You’re moving back soon, right?”_

_“I… well it’s gonna be hard on all of us but it’s probably easier to remain friends’ long distance than staying in a shaky relationship long distance, right?”_

No, he wouldn’t give up so easily on all of this.

There was no way he was going to lose it all just after he’d gotten everything back.


	6. I Can Still Take It Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira asks Hifumi to be his fake date.  
> Meanwhile Goro has some business to take care of in Leblanc that he'd been putting off for a long time.

_**September 2019** _

“I hope you realise just how ridiculous you’re sounding right now,” Hifumi informs Akira while they wait for the waitress to serve them coffee, “I hope you paying for lunch wasn’t some form of bribery.”

Akira chuckles and shakes his head, “No, no, I think you know me better than to try and do that. Besides I know it wouldn’t work on you. But yeah, I’m completely serious about this. Fake dating works all the time, right?”

“Yes. In fanfiction,” Hifumi says quietly, “And usually it would end with the two of us falling for each other, right?”

Akira shrugs, pretending like he hadn’t been up the previous night reading the Phoenix Featherman fic Futaba sent him at 2 in the morning, “I wouldn’t know, but you haven’t said no yet so…” he smiles, and she looks behind her as if looking for that waitress. Wasn’t the coffee supposed to be here by now?

“I… I’m considering it, however it is not for the reasons you provided me with,” she admits in a lowered tone, and Akira starts thinking that she’s ashamed to admit why she’s agreeing to this, “I may have it out for Akechi.”

“Huh?” Genuine surprise crosses Akira’s face. Even after the truth about Goro’s connections to the conspiracy, no one really found out what Goro was like. Akira’s fully aware how much of a dick Goro was to the Niijima sisters but he didn’t realise it might be the same to other people. Besides, how did Hifumi know him anyway?

As if reading his mind, she elaborates, “I didn’t know him very well, I occasionally ran into him in the TV studio when the two of us had TV appearances. Since I didn’t have very many it wasn’t common for me to be there, but it still resulted in me running into him a couple of times.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Hifumi opens her mouth to reply but that’s when the waitress brings them their coffee. She sets it down with an apology about the wait. Hifumi takes a sip before explaining herself, “This is something that happened before you even got here, actually. It may take me some time to explain.”

* * *

_It was about four years ago. I was becoming more and more known in the world of shogi while Akechi was only just starting to pop up on various TV shows as the Detective Prince. We were both inexperienced to that world and that drew us closer._

_We didn’t run into each other very often, but we did talk whenever we saw each other. It was pretty apparent that neither of us had many friends our age, and I wouldn’t say we ever got close, however I did occasionally see him for advice._

_One day, I found my mother paying off a high-ranking shogi player to lose against me, and I went to Akechi to ask for advice._

_“You could simply call her out on live television, though it may hurt your chances at becoming a higher-ranking player.”_

_I told him that I didn’t care about that, that I just wanted to play shogi in my own time, but I also didn’t want to disappoint my mother._

_In the end I didn’t call her out like he had suggested, and we went about our way. However, I had no idea that he didn’t just forget about it._

_One day he had an interview just before mine, so I came by to watch it._

_“We’re all excited to hear what case you’ve been working on,” one of the interviewers asked him, “As much as you can tell us, of course.”_

_“Ah, well, as I’m sure you know I can’t really talk about open cases… although I suppose this will become public knowledge soon enough.”_

_It was obvious that he knew I was listening in on this. I don’t think he’d mention it otherwise, “Last night I made multiple arrests and I’m almost finished with this case. It’s quite worrying, as it involves multiple shogi match judges. I recently discovered they’d been taking bribes from the players, rigging the matches. This scandal means that many of the players we’ve come to appreciate may not be as skillful as we thought.”_

_I’m sure you realise that neither myself nor my mother got caught up in the scandal, and that in the end his arrests hadn’t made that much of a difference. It upset me that he hadn’t even run that past me, and so I confronted him about it._

_“Was it necessary for you to brag about the incident on that show?” I asked him as soon as he was alone._

_“Maybe not, but this would have made the news anyway, and I deemed that having it come from a verifiable source may be favourable to the rumours that would start spreading as soon as the news broke out.”_

_“And you couldn’t tell me before you did this?”_

_Akechi just shook his head, “You would’ve stopped me.”_

* * *

 “Needless to say, our relationship only soured from there,” Hifumi finishes her story and takes a drink of her coffee, “This isn’t to say I do actually have a vendetta against him. I’m not so petty.”

“But…?”

She sets her coffee down with a clink, “but I always did want to see him being put in his place.”

Akira chuckles, “Well it’s more like I just want to have a normal conversation with him. Maybe he hasn’t redeemed himself or whatever, but I want him to know that I’ve moved on, as have Haru, Futaba and everyone else he’s wronged… uh sorry, that might be a bit too much information.”

Hifumi giggles lightly and shakes her head, “It’s nothing of the sort. I appreciate the honesty,” she pulls out her phone to check the time and frowns, “You may have to text me the details of this party as I am short on time right now.”

“So, you agree then?” Akira smiles and pulls out his phone, ready to forward her the invite he got from Ann, “Awesome, saves me the trouble of looking for another person who’d be willing to put up with my bullshit.”

She drinks the rest of her coffee and she picks up her bag as she gets out her chair, “The pleasure’s all mine, Akira Kurusu,” she begins searching for her wallet, but Akira starts shaking his head and waving his hands around.

“No, no, it’s fine, I don’t mind paying for the coffee as well.”

“Very well,” she stops fumbling around and stands up straight, “I will see you there. Goodbye,” she bows and walks out of the café, leaving Akira behind to not only text her the invite, but also to inform his friends about this.

> **Attic Trash** : Guess who’s got a hot date for the party?

* * *

Goro ignores his phone as it blows up with all kinds of messages, sipping on his favourite coffee provided by Sojiro. He can always read it later, or keep on ignoring it as he tended to do these days. He has more important issues to attend to now.

His head turns at the sound of Leblancs bells and finds exactly who he’s looking for, staring down at her phone and texting up a storm, “You seem quite busy, should I come by at another time?”

“Are you and Akira in a relationship or what?” Futaba asks directly, throwing her school bag into an empty booth while taking a seat next to it.

Goro opens his mouth but no words come out. He’d hardly call it a relationship, but there was maybe something there that connected them? No, there definitely was otherwise he wouldn’t be coming back to Akira every time he missed him. Which was far more often than he would have liked.

“It’s…. complicated,” he settles on the worst excuse possible. While Futaba’s busy texting out a reply, he moves his things to her booth and sits down across from her. His phone pings again right after she looks up from her phone, “Is that what the chat is talking about now?”

“Kinda?” Futaba tilts her head left and right, “More like Akira’s going to Ann’s party with someone and judging by your reply, it’s not you.”

“Akira’s going with someone else?” Goro raises and eyebrow and huffs. Whatever, he told Akira to move on anyway, so he should be happy he’s taking his advice. What stung a little was that it apparently only took him a day since they last met up, “I suppose that’s none of my business.”

“Mhm,” Futaba hums, unconvinced, “I’m sure _he_ knows that.”

Goro inhales and exhales deeply, clearing his head, “If you really think I’m here to talk about my love life then I’m leaving.”

“Ew, no, I heard about your love life enough from Akira,” Futaba shakes her head, “I guess I’m more curious about the gossip than I am about the actual relationship stuff… but you’re absolutely right! Moving on, why did you wanna meet up today?”

Sighing once more, Goro pulls out a manila file and slides it over to Futaba, “It’s something I’ve been working on for quite some time… although perhaps before you open it,” he puts a hand down on the file to prevent her from doing it, “This is information that may upset you. It’s to do with your family.”

“I already have a really crappy uncle who mistreated me at the lowest point in my life,” Futaba shrugs nonchalantly. Goro shakes it off as a coping mechanism, “How much worse could it get?”

“You’d be surprised,” Goro continues to warn her, “I’m being serious. I’m clearly not going to stop you from finding this out but-.”

Futaba grabs his hand and moves it off of the file, “Hackers are just as curious as detective y’know? I was gonna find out about whatever you’re hiding eventually.”

She opens it up and Goro sits back as she goes through it, expecting her to take some time to absorb the news. Instead she surprises him, setting the file down about a minute later and picks her phone up again, “Seriously? That doesn’t bother you at all?” Goro sits up again, and once again Futaba shrugs nonchalantly.

“He’s not my dad. Sojiro is,” Futaba nods at the man who was cleaning in the kitchen, apparently unable to hear most of their conversation, “No offence but I really don’t care about any of that anymore. It’s my mum and Sojiro and my friends who helped me turn into the person I am today. He can rot away in jail or get executed for all I care. To me, he’s just a villain who I happen to share DNA with.”

“What does that make me?” Goro’s almost too afraid to ask.

“The idiot half-brother who takes things way more seriously than he should,” Futaba sets her phone down finally, looking him in the eyes.

“You’re being awfully dismissive about all of this,” Goro points out, still uncomfortable with just how relaxed she was about the entire revelation. Had she known this whole time?

Futaba sighs and sits back, folding her arms, “I’ve had a gut feeling since I donated my blood to you. I was kinda too scared to look into it but I guess I’ve had some time to process it. Having it confirmed is a little weird, not gonna lie, but I’ve made my peace with it.”

“You make it sound so easy…” Goro mutters and Futaba shakes her head.

“You can’t compare yourself to me, Goro. I had the support from all of my friends and a dad who actually loved me even though I wasn’t his daughter, or even his blood relative. Like I said, Shido to me is the asshole who killed my mum and messed up the lives of so many of my friends, including yours.”

Looking at the table, a smile grows on Goro’s face, “Keep talking like this and I’ll be certain that you’re not the Futaba I’m looking for.”

“Ugh, forget it,” Futaba gets out of the booth, “Jeez if you’re really desperate to have an annoying little sister then I can… I don’t know, spill coffee on you or something cos you’re so annoying?”

Goro chuckles and shakes his head, “How about we just acknowledge that this information exists, and our relationship remains the same?”

Futaba nods, “Yeah, I think the others would freak out too much and I can’t be bothered to deal with Ryuji being weird around us for the next year.”

“Agreed.”

Futaba reaches for her bag, “Are you going to the party?”

“Must I?”

Futaba rolls her eyes, “I totally get not wanting to go but you have got to start dealing with your problems in some healthier way. Like me! I hate parties but I’m going anyway! And if it gets to be too much then you can leave with me and we can play Overwatch or something.”

Goro smiles, putting the manila folder back into his briefcase, “Ah yes, truly the best way of coping with mental health issues.”

“Okay it is way better and way more fun than just moping around!”

“I have no word in this, do I?”

“Nope!” Futaba says on her way out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised sibling theory so here it is! And yeah I know it's been disproven and whatnot but I still like it and stand by it.


	7. Beyond My Comprehension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Convincing him to take a break, Akira and the rest of the Phantom Thieves take Goro shopping.

_**February 2017** _

“I’m not sure how wise of an idea this is.”

“It’ll be fun. Trust me,” Akira insists, pulling Goro out of the café and into the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya, “I know you’re all caught up on your studies, Sojiro doesn’t need any help today, you’ve watched all of the Phoenix Featherman episodes you’ve missed and finished all of the books downstairs. Oh, and don’t think I haven’t noticed you beat my high score in Gambla Goemon.”

Akira is absolutely right. With how Goro was pretty much confined to Leblanc and its attic, he was slowly running out of things to do in his free time. There were only so many times you could re-read Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes.

Goro sighs but he doesn’t put up much of a fight against his boyfriend pulling him to the station, “And dragging me to the mall is your way of having me not mope around the café?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t miss the fresh air…” Akira’s nose scrunches up as he smells around, “Well… as fresh as you’re going to get in this city. At least it's a break from all of the coffee and curry.”

Goro still decides to pull up the hood on the jacket he’d borrowed from Akira as they get closer to the station. If he was going to get dragged out into the public eye again, it would be on his own terms. The limp didn’t help much with concealing his identity, nor did the general public knowledge of Akira being his boyfriend, but he could at least pretend for his own peace of mind, “I suppose I could do with some new books to read…”

* * *

Goro first sees Ann waving over to them, standing in front of a fountain. Yusuke has his back to the group, framing something with his hands. Futaba sits on the ground, playing some kind of game on her phone while Ryuji glances over her shoulder, “Over here guys!”

Ann’s shouting gets the groups attention, and they all turn their heads to see the newcomers approach them, “So, guys, you all know where you want to go?”

“Game store,” Ryuji announces.

“Electronics!” Futaba jumps off of the ground.

“I could do with some new paintbrushes…” Yusuke trails off, going back into his own world.

“I’d quite like to visit the bookstore,” Goro adds.

“Model gun shop,” Akira says out of nowhere and everyone’s caught off guard by what he says, Ryuji the most.

“Dude!” He shouts out and shakes his head, “We don’t need any of that stuff anymore, remember? You didn’t think we needed to go to Mementos or somethin’, did ya?”

Akira rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, blushing as he does, “Uh… it’s a habit… I’ll just follow you guys wherever you go.”

Ryuji grabs Akira’s wrist and begins dragging him away, “great! Then you can come get some new games with me,” he quickly looks back, finding the others still at the fountain, “Uh, you guys can come too if ya want.”

Ann shakes her head, she herself grabbing Goro’s hand and taking him in a different direction, “Hey you don’t mind going clothes shopping with me, right?”

By the time Goro makes up his mind about who he wants to spend his time with and where, it’s already too late. He turns his head back, seeing that everyone else had already dispersed around the mall. When he looks back at Ann, she’s far too close for his comfort, looking him directly in the eyes.

“So… how’s living with Akira? Spill everything.”

So, this was why Ann wanted him all to herself.

_Was shopping even Akira’s idea?_

_Probably not._

Goro chuckles awkwardly and pulls his hand away from Ann’s tight grip. He steps into the store she was clearly dragging him towards earlier, one with slightly higher end fashion than what she normally wore, “It’s… nice,” Goro pretends to look through a rack of clothes to avoid eye contact with her, “I don’t see him as often as I hoped I would initially. He’s quite often out and even when he comes back early, I usually have to study or help boss in the café. I don’t blame him for any of that, of course, and obviously it’s very unhealthy if I try to keep him all to myself, and of all people I have no right to even consider that-”

Ann puts her hand on his to stop him from frantically moving through the rack, “Goro… you’re spiralling, sweetie. It’s understandable that after being away for so long and after all that’s happened, you’d want to spend some time alone with your boyfriend. It’s not selfish or unfair of you to want that.”

Goro shakes his head and moves his hands away from hers, “That’s not my main concern. I know I don’t deserve his forgiveness. Or yours. Or the rest of the Phantom Thieves.”

“So, that’s what this is about, huh?” Now it’s Ann’s turn to look through the clothes and avoid Goro’s eyes, “Well… I guess it’s gonna take some more time for everyone to forgive you, but it doesn’t mean you should think you don’t deserve it right now or shouldn’t work towards it.”

“Hm,” Goro hums, still unsure of whether he ultimately would deserve that forgiveness no matter what he did to repent. He moves over to the next rack of clothes when suddenly he hears a gasp from across him,

“Is that Akechi?!”

“I haven’t seen him in _months_!” One girl says to the other.

Ann reacts quickly and pulls on his arm, “Hey, uh… uh, Mishima! Let’s go check out, um... what they have in the next shop over!”

Her unconvincing acting somehow manages to convince the two girls as they groan for what they assumed was a case of mistaken identity, “Aww, I guess it’s true that he doesn’t go out in public anymore.”

Ann leads him out of the store and into the next one. Once they’re away from other people, they start talking again.

“Thank you, Ann, I appreciate that but… who’s Mishima?”

* * *

The two of them return to the fountain but the group is nowhere to be found. After just a couple minutes of waiting, Goro hears both of their phones go off and he pulls his out with a free hand. Upon opening the group chat, he finds a selfie of Akira, Futaba, Yusuke and Ryuji all on a slide. To make them look even more immature, Akira has cat ears on, Futaba had rabbit ears on, Yusuke was clearly forced to wear what appeared to be fox ears while Ryuji had somehow found monkey ears for himself.

The next photo from him is of two objects in his hands. One of them was a halo on a headband, while the other was devil horns with the caption ‘yuo can be my devol or my angle.’

Ann giggles at the messages, “Dibs on the devil horns. I think you’d look cuter in the halo anyway,” she smiles and begins walking in the direction of the indoor children’s playground.

* * *

Children is certainly the right way to think of it too as Goro and Ann find Futaba sitting on a merry-go-round while Ryuji holds onto one of the handles on it and spins her around. Yusuke hangs upside down from a monkey bar, observing his surroundings while Akira sits on a swing. He waves to the other cheerfully and Ann runs over to him. She takes the devil horns from Akira, then runs over to join Yusuke on the monkey bars.

“Aren’t you all turning 18 this year?” Goro asks as he makes his way over to Akira.

“Futaba’s turning 17.”

“That doesn’t help your case,” Goro leans against the framing of the swing, catching the halo that Akira throws in his direction. He turns it over in his hand, then looks back up to Akira, “You expect me to wear this?”

Akira shakes his head, “No. But I think you’ve been thinking too much and need to let go of things for once, for example acting like an adult when you just want to be a kid again. You don’t need to be detective prince Goro Akechi anymore, y’know?”

Reluctantly, Goro reaches and pulls down his hood, then adjusts the halo on his head until it’s sitting comfortably on his head, “There. Happy?”

“Are you?” Akira stops moving his feet around and reaches out to Goro, “Come join me.”

“Why are you all being so kind to me?”

Without getting off of the swings, Akira pushes off of his feet sideways to reach his boyfriend. He takes his hand and pulls him closer, “Because it’s just what I’m like. It’ll take a lot for me to give up on you,” Akira wraps his arms around Goro, putting his head on his stomach, “So, you can either try pushing yourself away like you’re doing now or just accept that I’m never going to give up on you.”

Goro lifts his hand up and begins stroking Akira's head gently, "Okay," he whispers, but it's not where his mind is at.

_You don’t understand._

_You could never understand._

_This isn't self-pity anymore. It's just the truth._

_We’re not the same._

_We never were._

_So why won’t you just give up on me like you should have back in that interrogation room?_

_Even now, even after all this time..._

 

_…_

 

 _You are_ _still beyond my comprehension._


	8. Because I'm Psychic Of Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With all the pieces in place, it's time to party.

_**September 2019** _

> Alibabae: **Seriously? You got a date? How?**
> 
> AtticTrash: **First of all, rude.**
> 
> AtticTrash: **Second of all, why is it so strange for me to have a date?**
> 
> Shoulder Pads: **Must we really spell it out?**
> 
> Beauty Thief: **Who’s your date @Akira?**
> 
> AtticTrash: **Well thank you, finally _someone_ cares!**
> 
> Vulgar Ape: **Pretty sure she’s just bein’ polite bro.**
> 
> Beauty Thief: **I don’t really…**
> 
> Beauty Thief: **But you certainly seem excited about it.**
> 
> Shoulder Pads: **…**
> 
> Alibabae: **ahahAHAHAHHA ohh the rare Haru burn!**
> 
> Kitty Woman: **Doesn’t get worse than that**
> 
> AtticTrash: **OKAY, getting off topic here. And hurting my precious little heart a bit too damn.**
> 
> AtticTrash: **It’s Togo Hifumi, the shogi player.**
> 
> Inari: **Oh, I believe you mentioned this already.**
> 
> AtticTrash: **No, Yusuke, that was at home, the others don’t know yet.**
> 
> Kitty Woman: **ANYway, who’s coming to the party? It’d be good to get some numbers.**
> 
> AtticTrash: **Well pretty sure @Yusuke, @Ryuji, myself and Mishima will be there since it’s our place.**
> 
> Beauty Thief: **I will try my best to attend. I do not think there are any meetings at Okumura Foods that I need to be present for at that time.**
> 
> Shoulder Pads: **I’ll be there, it’ll be nice to see each other all together again.**
> 
> Alibabae: **Yeah parties aren’t my thing but I made a kinda promise that I’d go.**
> 
> **…**
> 
> Alibabae: **@Goro?**
> 
> **…**
> 
> Alibabe: **U there?**
> 
> **…**
> 
> Low-Keeeey: **My apologies for answering so late. Yes, I will be attending as well.**  

* * *

When the doorbell rings, Akira’s the first to react, jumping off of the couch and grabbing the doorknob before Ryuji, Yusuke or Mishima can say anything. Without checking who it is in the peephole, he opens it, moving aside to let the person on the other side step in, “Hifumi, you’re early.”

Hifumi smiles and takes a couple of hesitant steps inside, “If I’m to go along with this plan I thought it important to be here from the beginning, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Plan?” Mishima asks, but he’s dismissed by Ryuji.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s really stupid even by my standards,” Ryuji jokes, although despite what he says he explains it partially, “Hifumi’s Akira’s date for tonight apparently.”

“Huh?” Mishima looks between Akira and Hifumi, then to Ryuji and Yusuke for their reactions. None of them seem particularly surprised by any of this, “What about Akechi-san…? Wait, no… this _is_ about him, isn’t it?!”

Akira waves him off and pulls out his phone, “Eh, maybe. Anyone heard from Ann? Kinda was hoping she’d show up early too.”

Ryuji and Mishima try holding it in, but with a snort they begin to laugh. Even Yusuke snickers a little and Hifumi smiles, “You seriously think _Ann_ of all people is getting somewhere early?”

“She barely made it to our graduation,” Mishima points out, recalling the event that Akira had only heard of via text messages on the group chat.

While the three guys start bringing up all of the other times Ann’s been late to important events, Akira turns back to Hifumi after privately messaging Ann, “So, want something to drink before shit hits the fan?”

* * *

A few hours later their apartment is noisier than it’s ever been before. A song from Ann’s playlist blasts from Ryuji’s speakers, something from some very popular idol who supposedly Akira had a poster of back in the attic of Leblanc. All the while, friends from his, Ann’s, Ryuji’s and Mishima’s classes pour themselves drinks, chat in the corners of the room and dance in the living room where the couches were all moved up to the walls.

Even their neighbours, fellow students who the four guys didn’t always get along with, had joined their party, bringing it out into the corridor of their floor. It’s loud, but it doesn’t seem to particularly bother anyone. When Akira looks around, everyone seems to have smiles on their faces, others clearly too drunk to even care about what was happening, intent on just having a good time.

The only thing that does bother Akira is the sudden disappearance of Hifumi, who had stayed by his side most of the night, and Goro, who had appeared later than most of their guests and had since actively tried to ignore Akira, but with how small their place was it wasn’t possible for him to stay completely out of sight. Until now.

As he’s looking around, he finds a very pink faced Haru, and a slightly swaying Makoto chatting in one corner of the room, both of them with a drink in hand. He tries walking over to them, at first apologising everyone he passes, but when he realises that no one can hear him, he simply shoves his way past figuring that his guests would quickly forgive him, and soon enough he’s standing in front of the giggling girls.

“Hey, either of you seen Hifumi or Goro?”

Haru slowly turns her head towards him, then in the same slow way shakes her head, “No, but you shouldn’t worry about them so much. I’m sure they will turn up sooner or later.”

Makoto is somewhat more helpful than Haru, “Actually I think I saw them go into your room, you might want to check in there.”

Akira nods and crosses the room, once again shoving aside drunk college students as he reaches the door. He opens it up, and just as expected, Hifumi and Goro were standing near his desk with Goro leaning against it with his arms crossed. They both look over to the door where Akira stands, and Goro pushes himself off of the desk, “Well then, I hope you two enjoy the rest of your night. Goodnight, Togo-san, Akira,” he nods at them both, then moves past Akira.

Akira doesn’t bother stopping him, knowing better, and instead chooses to close the door behind him. He looks to Hifumi who’s now looking out through his window, “You alright? You look pretty pensive… he didn’t… y’know?”

Hifumi raises an eyebrow, “He didn’t what? Insult me further?”

Akira nods soundlessly in the corner of Hifumi’s eye. She sighs and shakes her head, “No, actually, he ended up forgiving me for what he did in the past, although he didn’t seem to regret doing it in the first place… rather he regrets that he hurt me.”

Akira watches her turn away from the window to look at him, “That was not the only thing we talked about however, although you probably suspect as much since we spent so much time in here.”

* * *

_“I’d like to speak with you, privately if at all possible,” Goro says, leaning closer to Hifumi so she can hear him over the music, singing and chatter of the guests of the party._

_She looks around the apartment, looking for some location they could speak normally in such a busy place. Spotting a door of a bedroom, she considers using it to have a conversation there. She tries to tell him but just then the guests begin shouting, clearly entertained by the drinking game going on in the kitchen. Rolling her eyes, she grabs his arm and pulls him to that room._

_As soon as she opens the door, she’s barely surprised by a couple of students making out on his bed, and with her commanding voice she manages to shoo them out of the room to give her and Goro some privacy, ignoring the comment about how she was being a hypocrite._

_“So then, talk.”_

_Goro moves to the desk, leaning back against it before explaining himself, “I didn’t bring you in here to talk about being with Akira if that’s what you’re thinking. Although I’m fairly certain you aren’t actually together and you’re just helping him either get back at me or part of some convoluted plan to make me jealous.”_

_“What if I’m here with him because I want to be here? I already know Kitagawa-kun from Kosei, Niijima-san and I share a couple of history classes and sit next to each other, and Akira and I have been playing shogi together since our high school days,” she informs him, but he doesn’t back down._

_“Don’t take me for an idiot,” Goro says but there’s not much emotion behind it, “As much of a stalker as this will make me sound like, I’m fully aware that Akira hasn’t spoken to you in months, and yet after we have one of the biggest fights we’ve had in quite some time, he decides to throw a party and invite you as his date while announcing it on a group chat he knows I’m part of?”_

_Hifumi shrugs, “Perhaps he was excited. Are you so egotistical to think that you’re the only one that’s always on Akira’s mind?”_

_Goro chuckles and shakes his head, “Oh, I’m certainly egotistical, but not to that extent. However, I like to think that out of the two of us, I know him best and am fully aware of his need for dramatics.”_

_“Implying you have no such needs yourself.”_

_“…touché,” Goro admits with a little hesitation, “Am I wrong then?”_

_Finally, Hifumi, as much as she hates to do it to Akira, gives everything up, “If you’re not, then what will you do? You knew what was happening from the start and yet you showed up to this party despite all of that.”_

_Goro looks away from her, clearly considering telling her his true intentions. Finally, he decides against it and changes the subject, “As I said, this isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about, and I don’t think we have a lot of time before Akira realises, we’re both gone.”_

* * *

“And that’s that,” Hifumi admits and sighs deeply, “I apologise for just... telling him everything. Although I do believe him coming here to begin with shows promise.”

“How can you be sure of that? He’s done it before,” Akira says, and shortly after his phone chimes with two messages sent one after the other.

Hifumi points to his pocket, “That may be why.”

Curious, he pulls out his phone which is when he gets a third text. Opening up his chat log, he reads over them.

> Goro: **I wished you hadn’t gotten others involved in the mess I’ve caused.**
> 
> Goro: **But if you’re willing to go to that extreme then…**
> 
> Goro: **I suppose I’m ready now.**

His phone buzzes one more time in his hand,

> Goro **: I’m ready to talk.**


	9. You Should Have Just Abandoned Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no going back now.

**_March 2017_ **

Akira’s alarm rings and pats around his windowsill until he gets it. Turning around, he finds that Goro has once again left the room, and mostly likely the café entirely before Akira had even woken up, just like he’d done for the past two weeks.

The worst part of this was knowing how impossible it was to bring it up around his boyfriend since he usually only replied to his texts in one-word, often dismissive answers and even waiting for him till the evening was of no use since by the time Goro came back from whatever activity he was doing, he claimed he was too tired to discuss matters and just went to bed.

Akira knows he’s avoiding talking to him, but he can’t even figure out why it is, or what could’ve prompted such a drastic change in Goro’s behaviour. Weren’t they going to patch things up and start fresh? The only thing supposedly stopping them was Akira travelling back to his hometown in a weeks’ time, but he didn’t live all that far away from the city and long distance wasn’t entirely out of reach.

_Is he scared…?_

Akira shakes his head and dismisses the thought. If he were scared, he would’ve just told Akira straight up that he doesn’t want to do long distance, or so Akira hopes that’s the case since he likes to think he knows Goro enough now to believe that that would be the case.

Instead, he finds himself getting ready for his last week in Tokyo before his move back. Maybe if he’s lucky he’d find Goro somewhere in the city, though he doesn’t like his chances.

* * *

The following week is mostly the same, but there’s one day where Akira wakes up before his alarm and catches his boyfriend getting dressed, “Hey… where you rushing off to so early?” He asks in a playful and sleepy tone, yet he’s out for actual information

In the middle of buttoning up his shirt, Goro turns around, glances at Akira, then goes back to his shirt, “I have an interview at one of the college’s I applied to today. I wanted to get there early…”

“Seems like you’ve been getting everywhere early,” Akira mutters since he’s sure that leaving at this hour was far too early for any kind of interview, “Have you been avoiding me?” It’s less of a question and more of an accusation. Akira knows it’s true already.

“I didn’t-.”

Akira turns around to face the wall, “I know you are… I’m not upset that you’re doing it but I wish you’d tell me why… though I guess since you haven’t then even that’s too much to ask of you.”

“Akira, I haven’t been avoiding you, just-.”

“Forget it,” Akira pulls up the covers until they’re just below his neck, “If you’re not gonna be honest then I don’t want to hear it.”

With a heavy sigh, he hears and feels Goro getting off the bed. There’s some noise in the background when Goro retrieves his coat, “It’s true, I have been avoiding you. But I’m only doing it for your own good, Akira.”

At first, Akira stays silent as he tries to figure out on his own what Goro means by that. When he’s at a loss, he turns around while sitting up, “What’s that supposed to-,” but it’s too late. He hears the bells downstairs chime. Instead of chasing after him, Akira returns to bed.

He’s too tired to deal with this so early in the morning.

* * *

Sunday ends up rolling around much quicker than he expected, and with the last of his luggage sent off, Akira walks down into the coffee shop to say goodbye to Sojiro.

It stings a little when Goro isn’t even downstairs, or anywhere within the vicinity of Leblanc. He wants to ask Sojiro if he knows where he was the previous night since he doesn’t even remember if Goro had spent the night in the attic or not but refrains from doing so.

He’s hurt, but even now he doesn’t want to get him in trouble

He visits each of his friends in Tokyo, all of them giving him gifts which begin to overflow from his bag after a while, but he accepts each one graciously and wishes everyone well on whatever journey they’ll be taking on next.

When he’s finishes, he meets Yusuke in Shibuya and walks with him to the car where Morgana, now having reunited with the group, repairs something in the hood.

Unbeknownst to him, there is someone watching the Thieves actions and conversations from afar, but it’s not the government officials in unmarked cars tracking the former Phantom Thieves.

It’s Goro Akechi, carefully observing them while also wavering in his actions. All he wants to do is run over, embrace Akira and apologise for his behaviour, acknowledge that he doesn’t deserve someone as kind and thoughtful as him and hope that Akira won’t hate him for what he’s done.

His brain knows better. He knows he doesn’t deserve Akira’s forgiveness, not for ignoring him the last few weeks, and certainly not for all the crap he pulled in the months before it. If he really wants to redeem himself, he’ll leave Akira alone until he realises he can do better than Goro Akechi, until he finds someone else to share his life with.

Morgana jumps out from the hood and Goro’s phone rings. He knows that now’s his last chance to do something, anything if he wants a future with Akira.

Instead, he pulls out his phone,

“Akechi speaking, who is this?” He asks, getting straight to the point.

“Ah, Akechi-san, I’m delighted you were able to answer so quickly,” a male voice comes through, one he doesn’t recognise, “I am the new director at the SIU, but you’ve no need to worry, this isn’t about the mental shutdown cases.”

“Oh?” Goro can’t help but feel a little bit intrigued. Resigning in disgrace from his previous job was a little humiliating, but of course he expected much worse when he initially took up the job. He doesn’t think he has room to complain now, but when the cases he worked on weren’t caused by him, Goro did enjoy his job as a detective, “Is it something I can help with?”

“Yes, actually,” the man admits, “I am familiar with your criminal record, and unfortunately, we are unable to ask for your help as a detective any longer… however, as a consultant, I believe you could help us with a case that has most of the prosecutors here stumped.”

“A… consultant?” Goro asks hesitantly. He never considered the possibility of working in criminal justice ever again, and even if this weren’t a job that paid as well as his previous one, it certainly sounded promising.

In the distance he sees Morgana jumping back into the hood, the car still clearly needing repairs, “Um… If I’m being honest, I’m not sure how to reply. What is it that you need my help with?”

“Ah, I’m sure you understand this, but I would rather give you the details in person,” the man says, “I have a meeting in two hours. If you don’t make it here before then, then I’ll consider it as you turning the offer down. How about it?”

He sees Morgana jump back out, then following Ren and Yusuke into the car. Makoto puts the keys into the ignition and starts it back up. They all cheer as the car begins to move.

“…I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

* * *

**_March 2018_ **

By the time Akira’s moving back to Tokyo to attend his college of choice, he’s given up all hope of ever talking to Goro again. Not showing up to his leaving party was one thing- after all it was a party between the Phantom Thieves, and Akira was certain that despite any reassurances the thieves gave him, Goro may still not have felt comfortable around them all at such an occasion.

What really drove Akira to lose his fate in any of this was the lack of replies.

For the first month back in his hometown, Akira messaged Goro at least twice a day- once to say good morning and once to say goodnight. The next month it was always just one message, asking him if he’s doing okay. The month after the messages became sporadic, but it was always asking him if he was even using the same number, until one day the text wouldn’t send anymore, and when Akira tried calling it, the number had become unavailable.

The only reassurance Akira had that Goro was even alive was seeing him being up to date with the messages on the Thieves group chat. On private, Futaba would occasionally say something about him helping out Sojiro which both help calm Akira’s mind, but also hurt him with how clear it was becoming that Goro wanted nothing to do with him.

Despite all of it, Akira’s excited to get back to Shibuya, back to his friends and back to the café who’s smell still lingered on his clothing even to this day. Before he can do all of that, he takes the train to his student dorm where his luggage and his future housemates were already waiting for him.

He reaches the door leading to his accommodation and pulls out his key. He’s greeted with a surprise when he does open it, finding a few familiar faces inside.

Mishima is the first to perk up when he enters, scrambling off of the couch and running to the door, “No way, Kurusu?! How are you here of all places?!”

Akira stutters at first, mostly because he didn’t expect such a strong reaction from any of his housemates. From behind Mishima he can see Ryuji chilling on the couch as well, who smiles widely at his but isn’t as shocked about his appearance, “Uh… I-I live here now… I think we’re all going to the same college?”

“No way!” Mishima laughs and moves aside so that Akira can settle in, “What a coincidence! Well this isn’t all of us, but you’ll been mind blown when you find out who else is living with us… he’s out getting groceries right now but he left some time before so-,” he cuts himself off when out of the elevator doors down the corridor their housemate appears, and Mishima calls to him through the open door of their shared apartment, “There he is now!”

“A-Akira?!”

The all too familiar voice gives Akira goosebumps, giving him a feeling like the voice is out of place, like it doesn’t belong to the surroundings.

Turning around, he finds Goro approaching them with a limp, looking out of place in casual clothing and grocery bags in both of his hands.

What’s Akira supposed to do? Say hi? Hug him? Kiss him? Pretend like he’s not there at all?

He goes for the worst option possible and ends up waving at him awkwardly, only adding to the strangeness of the situation, “Uh… I guess I’m your new housemate?” He offers but it only makes everything more awkward. He drops his hand and Goro walks inside.

Looking at the other two who were very interested in this exchange, Goro sighs, drops the bags on the kitchen table, “Sakamoto, Mishima, would you mind giving us some privacy?”

Sakamoto shakes his head, “No, whatever you want to say to him you can probably say in front of us.”

Goro sighs even louder than before, and fighting against the urge to kick them both out, he turns to Akira, “I… I don’t mind looking for some place else to live if my presence might bother you.”

“Why would it bother me?” Akira asks before quickly adding, “With how much you’ve ignored me the last year I thought I was the one bothering you.”

Mishima grabs Sakamoto’s arm and pulls him off of the couch, “Hey, uh, we’re supposed to go to that, uh, orientation thing now, aren’t we Sakamoto-kun?”

“Huh?” Ryuji looks at him, baffled, “What orientation thi-!”

He’s cut off when Mishima manages to drag him out of the apartment, closing the door behind them and giving them some privacy.

“So then,” Goro says.

“So then,” Akira repeats, “You finally ready to talk to me or are you just going to ignore me until our lease is up?”

Goro rolls his eyes and folds his arms, "how childish do you think I am? I was trying to give you much needed space, Akira, something you didn't even know you so desperately needed."

"What? So I would realise that you're an actual human being like the rest of us who makes mistakes?" Akira's voice gets louder, "I forgave you for everything, Goro, but instead of just accepting that we actually wanted to give you a chance, you just ran away."

Goro chuckles darkly, "A chance? No, you weren't giving me a chance at redemption. The Phantom Thieves pitied me while you were too blinded to realise just how much of a monster I am. I did you a favour."

"I didn't ask you for it!" Akira shouts, "Some of us actually know how to deal with our emotions, so you didn't have to-!"

Now it’s Akira’s turn to be cut off when Goro surprisingly pulls him into a kiss and distracts him from forming coherent thought as his tongue explores his mouth. Akira tries to protest through moans, but he quickly gives in to it all.

The two are left gasping when eventually Goro pulls away, “I'm sorry, t-that... I-"

"Shut up," Akira grabs the back of his neck and pulls him into a deeper kiss, pulling into whatever was the closest bedroom.

He doesn't want to care anymore about making mistakes.

He doesn't want to care about the consequences of his actions.

All Akira wants is to forget about the outside world, about their problems and live in a perfect, if fake, reality. Even for just a second.


	10. We Seem to Share Some Kind of Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conversation we've all been waiting for is finally here! Can Akira and Goro forgive each other or will they be forced to stay out of each others lives?

**_September 2019_ **

“I need you to promise me something first,” Akira says to Goro from across the table. They agreed to meet in Goro’s apartment, a place that Akira hadn’t been to at all, avoiding it at all costs throughout the year, though given how Goro never invited him over it was all the easier to do just that.

He prefers it to the other apartment Goro lived in, the one provided to him by Shido all those years ago. While this one is much smaller than the other one, it feels far more like a home rather than a hotel room. There’s trinkets and a couple of plants on the windowsills, a few photos hung on the walls mostly of Goro with Ann or Futaba, though some clearly from the year Akira had been gone from Tokyo.

It’s not as pristine as Akira would have assumed, with dust collecting on some of the trinkets and papers sprawled on top of his desk, but it’s a change of pace from the mask Goro had been hiding under all this time.

“Hm?” Goro lifts up the cup of coffee he made to his lips.

Akira looks down at his own, “Neither of us should get mad over whatever we talk about, or wherever the conversation ends up taking us… we’ve already been screwed over by gods and fate, we shouldn’t make our lives any more complicated by pissing each other off by conversation alone.”

Goro closes his eyes, contemplating as he drinks his coffee, “Counteroffer,” he begins when he pulls away from the cup, “It’s impossible for us not to react emotionally to all that we’ve been through. If we really wish to simplify our lives, then I say we just stick to any final decision we reach. No searching for loopholes, no going in circles, no pointless reasoning. We either agree on a resolution, or go our separate ways.”

Akira agrees to this deal with a nod, and sighs lightly before moving on to the topic at hand, “I think it’s clear that neither of us have moved on from what happened all those years ago… I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not been easy to just get over watching you put a bullet in my head… even if it wasn’t me in the end.”

“Wait,” Goro lifts his hand up, shaking his head and confused by the statement, “I never did that… Shido requested that I do so but I wasn’t able to go through with it. I missed that shot.”

The revelation is a surprising one for Akira, but he doesn’t think it truly changes anything, “That’s not the point. You still lied and manipulated me just to get your revenge on Shido. I was ready to forgive you for all of that, honestly, I understood wanting to get back at the world after what the world had put you through… but what really hurt was how you obviously rejected any forgiveness I had to offer, then pretended like nothing had happened. Was it really that easy for you to toy with me like that?”

“Toy with you?” Goro asks, moving his coffee aside, “That was never my intention. That year that you were gone… I thought that all I brought you was pain and misery and watching you with your friends I knew I could never be good enough or make up in any way for what I did. I thought I was doing you a favour by trying to get you to hate me for hurting you and putting you through all of that so you could move on…”

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Akira can’t help but snort at a thought that comes to mind, “You really do forget how unpredictable I am, huh? No wonder your plans keep failing.”

Goro wants to tell him off for that, but he can’t help the grin that forms on his own face at the blunt truth of his statement, “Yes, you’re right, I’m incompetent at planning anything when it comes to you… And I suppose when it comes to myself too. I didn’t expect that we’d once again be thrown together by fate. I certainly didn’t expect that I could grow to become so attached to another person and that letting go would be a near impossible feat. I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed anything in the first place and made decisions for you.”

“I kind of owe you an apology too…” Akira leans back in the chair and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “I shouldn’t have involved Hifumi in any of this. It was kind of a low blow and pretty childish.”

Goro shakes his head, “I understand why you did it, as childish as it was, at least it gave me the opportunity to talk things out with her as well.”

Neither Akira nor Goro know where to go on from there, and an awkward silence hangs in the air. They both decide to fill it with drinking their coffee, but when it gets too long and too awkward, Akira desperately tries to fill it with something else, “So… where do we go on from here?”

Goro sets the now empty cup down, “That year when I couldn’t talk to you was dreadful, and it’s only served to prove just how much I don’t want to lose you again. I understand if you don’t want to get back together again, but I don’t want us to completely break off all contact either.”

It’s true for the both of them that the year Akira spent back in his village went by slower than any other. All Akira wanted to do in that time was share everything he experienced on any given day with Goro, no matter how trivial it was. Talking to his friends was fun and helped him get by most of the time, but he missed the snarky or cute or humorous replies he would get from Goro via text before everything went to shit.

Akira knows that just as Goro can’t lose him, he can’t completely rid himself of the former detective either, “We don’t exactly have a deadline for anything anymore, right?” Goro agrees with a slow nod, “I’m willing to give us a fresh start if you are. We don’t have to go out or anything, just… leave the past in the past, go back to chatting and hanging out like we used to, back when we didn’t fuck things up spectacularly and no Yaldabaoth or Igor or Shido or anyone was making those decisions for us.”

“You believe we can do that so easily?”

Akira smiles, finally glancing up from his cup to look in Goro’s eyes, “Nothing stopping us from trying. What do you say?”

* * *

**_March 2021_ **

Goro shifts around on the backseat of Ann’s car so much that his little sister ends up punching him in the arm to get him to stop. Goro yelps and begins rubbing it to relieve the pain, “What was that for?!”

“You’re moving around so much, it’s so annoying!” She shouts at him and punches him again.

“And that one?!”

“For being so nervous,” Futaba says like it’s meant to explain everything, “I’m trying to get your mind off of everything since you’re clearly incapable of not stressing out like crazy.”

Ann looks up to the rear-view mirror, looking at poor Yusuke who had to deal with the two siblings fighting in the back of her new car, “Yusuke! Do something before they make me crash this car!”

Goro rolls his eyes before Yusuke can say anything, “Oh please, Ann, like anyone can stop Futaba from doing whatever she wants. And if you must know,” he turns back to the girl next to him, “I’m shifting around so much because this suit is not very comfortable.”

Without waiting for Futaba’s reaction, Ann snorts, “Nu-uh, I know that suit is form fitted because I went with you to get it, so there’s no way it’s uncomfortable. You shouldn’t feel so nervous though, if there’s anyone who’s ready to handle something like this, it’s you.”

For the hundredth time today, Goro sighs over Ann repeating her words. While he certainly had more experience working than any of his peers, it hardly meant that he actually wanted to go out into the world and work like everyone else did. Beyond that, Goro hardly ever expected to go to college, let alone live long enough to graduate, “That’s not why I’m nervous, Ann.”

“Aha!” Futaba shouts out, “So you are nervous, you liar!”

“Ugh, yes, you’re right, I am nervous,” Goro admits defeat, “But it’s not because I feel unprepared. It’s… well, there’s a far more childish reason.”

Mishima, who's sitting in the passenger seat next to Ann is the one who figures out what really has Goro down and not looking forwards to graduating, “Because you’ll be more like an adult now, and being a detective isn’t going to be anything special?”

Goro hesitantly nods, not having expected anyone in the car to understand, “I had the news playing in the background this morning as I was getting ready… there were talks of a new kid somewhere in Kyoto being hailed as the Third Advent of the Detective Prince… and it made me realise how I’ve lost all relevance by simply aging.”

"Well at least now you know how us girls feel in most jobs," Ann points out before asking him, "But I thought you hated the gig anyway? Wasn't it just a cover up or something?"

“I hated that it was just a tool for me to use to get to my father,” Goro begins his explanation, “But… once I was given the chance to act as a consultant on my own terms, I truly began appreciating the job… and yes, Mishima is right, it did make me feel somewhat special. Now I’m just the next has-been in what will undoubtedly be a line of kids using their abilities to solve gruesome murders…”

Unexpectedly, Yusuke chuckles while staring through the window. Goro thinks that it’s from something he saw outside, but then the artist begins talking, “You do not need to be a prodigy to be special or outstanding, Goro. You are now going to be freer than ever before to prove yourself to the world, and now on entirely your own terms. You’re wrong in thinking that this is all the end of something, when really it is just the beginning.”

There’s a short silence after Yusuke’s speech that’s broken by Futaba about half a minute later, “ew, Inari being wise and insightful is freaking me out… maybe we are getting old,” she gasps, before getting back to the topic at hand, “But, as easy it might be for the super talented artist with a bright future and the super talented hacker with a bright future to say, he kinda has a point. You really struggle with moving on, huh?”

Ann stops the car when she parks it and undoes her seat belt, “We’re here!” She announces, and quickly, Goro removes his own seat belt and gets out of the car with newfound energy.

As nervous as he is about all of this, he still doesn’t want to prove his little sister right.

* * *

The ceremony itself is much longer than Goro had anticipated, only made a little better by being able to sit with Hifumi, Makoto and Haru while the others sat in the back. Being his classes’ representative, he picked up all of their diploma’s while Ann, Ryuji, Futaba and especially Akira cheered him on, far louder than necessary, resulting him in getting dicey looks from his professors while Mishima desperately tried to calm them down in the back row.

With everything over now, Goro walks back to the cars only to discover that both Ann, who had driven him, and Haru, who had driven everyone else to the graduation, were now gone. He doubts that they simply forgot about him, and instead decided to play some elaborate prank. He takes out his phone to call Ann but as he’s searching for her number in his list of contacts, a hand covers it. He looks up to find the owner of the hand to be Akira.

“I should have known you’d be behind this.”

Akira chuckles and removes his hand from the phone, keeping his other hand behind his back, clearly hiding something, “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, so you’re not here to drag me away from public view to have your way with me?” Goro raises an eyebrow, and Akira laughs at the insinuation as well.

“That’s pretty direct, I’ve clearly been rubbing off on you too much,” Akira notices, but his tone shifts to a serious one, “No, actually I wanted to talk. Privately,” he takes Goro’s hand and leads him across the parking lot. They end up far away from any crowds, standing on a patch of grass and underneath a tree. The first thing he does is reveal the bouquet of Chinese bellflowers he had specially ordered at Rafflesia for his boyfriend, “congratulations on graduating.”

“Is that what these mean?” Goro asks, knowing how familiar Akira is with flower language. He accepts the flowers never matter what they meant.

Akira shakes his head, “They mean something a little different. Before that, you were really nervous today, weren’t you?” Goro nods, “The others didn’t need to tell me, but they did anyway,” he takes a small step forwards and cups Goro’s face in his hands, “You don’t have to be some kind of famous detective or have unique powers just to prove that you’re special. Whatever you end up doing, know that it’ll be amazing just because you’re one who’s accomplishing it. And I wanted you to know that I’m going to be there the whole time that you’re doing amazing things out in the world.”

“Akira, what do these flowers symbolise?”

“We’ve always had a close bond. I don’t know whether that meeting at the station was fate, gods throwing us together or just coincidence, but I couldn’t be happier that we met when we did,” he looks down a the flowers and take ones of them out of the bouquet, “They’re Chinese bellflowers, symbolising honesty, desiring the return of a friend, but more importantly, endless love.... Goro, will you let me love you endlessly?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> Wow has this been one crazy journey, both for me and these two lovebirds! Never did I expect to write something so cheesy and yet here we are. Also there may be a chance that my hanakotoba might be wrong because I only know this from researching the subject online but... well wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong about something.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all so much for reading the first series I've ever written, including the first fanfic I've ever written, and thank you all so much for the lovely comments and all of the kudos I've received on this!


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